Fire Department receives federal grant

With the help of funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Springfield Fire Department will convert its current radio system infrastructure to next-generation digital technology.

With a funding limit of $1 million, the federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant required a 20 percent match. The Fire Department is budgeting $217,606 for the radio infrastructure upgrade; $174,950 comes from the grant, while the match is $43,521, funded through level property tax, according to a news release.

“This grant is critical in providing the local fire service with the tools we need," Assistant Fire Chief David Pennington said in the release. "It simply would not have been possible for us to replace these radios without this grant.”

With the funding, the department will purchase mobile and portable radios for all of Greene County's fire departments. The radios would be up to code with Project 25, a standard for digital two-way wireless communications products administered by the Telecommunications Industry Association.

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